“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
This famous lament from 19th-century department store magnate John Wanamaker has echoed through marketing departments for over a century.
But in the modern advertising landscape Wanamaker was actually optimistic – the vast majority of advertising spend is wasted when brands fail to properly segment and target their audiences.
What if you could identify and eliminate that wastage?
By adopting the precision microtargeting used in political campaigning for D2C advertising, our agency consistently achieves an average 589% Return on Ad Spend across industries – proving that Wanamaker’s accepted wisdom no longer needs to hold true.
The ultimate conversion challenge
Political campaigning represents perhaps the most challenging conversion scenario in existence.
Unlike an ecommerce store that offers 24/7 purchase opportunities and unlimited opportunities to test and optimise, political campaigns have just one moment of truth every four years when voters head to the polls.
They also face multiple direct competitors targeting identical audiences, often with remarkably similar messaging.
To contextualise this in D2C terms: imagine selling handbags knowing your customer will definitely purchase one – but having no idea which brand they’ll choose until it’s too late.
This challenge demands extraordinary precision, as demonstrated by our work with the UK Green Party in the 2023 local elections.
Our approach began with detailed demographic and psychographic analysis across five cities, examining data on a ward-by-ward basis. This granular understanding of voters informed bespoke local communication strategies, with messaging carefully crafted to resonate with specific community concerns.
The results spoke for themselves: 20% higher social media engagement in target constituencies, significantly increased local press coverage, and heightened on-doorstep awareness – all contributing to the party’s most successful local election performance to date.
The science of microtargeting
The key to this success lies in microtargeting. In political campaigns, we identify the most likely persuadable voters in key battleground areas using geographic, demographic and behavioural indicators.
We determine which issues matter most to them, craft primary messaging around these concerns, and identify the most trusted messenger (candidate) for delivery.
Combined with strategic exposure frequency – tapping into the mere exposure effect from behavioural science – this creates a powerful conversion pathway.
This same precision should define D2C advertising strategy, yet rarely does.
The process begins with identifying your viable audience based on disposable income and purchase timeline.
Who can actually afford your product?
Does your price point make it a considered purchase requiring months of saving, or an impulse buy?
This financial framework then intersects with interest categories and product and brand appeal factors to create highly targeted messaging opportunities.
Beyond basic demographics
Most D2C brands continue to cast unnecessarily wide advertising nets.
We regularly encounter brands targeting women aged 25-65+ across entire continents with one ad set, then expressing surprise at mediocre performance.
This approach ignores the fundamental lessons of political microtargeting, where messaging varies by ward based on a complex range of factors, such as local priorities, income levels, social class, employment status, housing situation, and family composition.
Effective D2C targeting demands similar precision.
Repeat customers require different messaging from first-time buyers.
Geographic markets present varying cultural sensitivities.
Age groups and genders demonstrate distinct priorities.
Just as a successful election campaign wouldn’t use identical messaging across different wards, your D2C advertising strategy shouldn’t rely on one-size-fits-all creative or targeting.
The three-tier strategy: learning from voter behaviour
Political campaigns understand that not all potential voters hold equal conversion potential.
D2C brands must recognise that not all prospects will deliver equal lifetime value.
Our political experience has taught us to segment microtargeted audiences into three distinct tiers, each requiring a unique strategic approach:
High-Value Customers are your committed voters – they believe in your brand and consistently demonstrate their loyalty through purchases and advocacy.
Like dedicated party members who not only vote but volunteer and donate, these customers invest emotionally and financially in your success.
They require reinforcement rather than conversion, and deserve proportionate investment in return.
Their messaging should focus on deepening the relationship, whether through early access to new products, loyalty rewards, or brand storytelling that reinforces their choice.
Medium-Value Customers parallel swing voters – they could be persuaded to become loyal supporters with the right approach.
They may purchase occasionally or stick to entry-level products, but they present your greatest opportunity for growth.
Like undecided voters who need to understand how policies will benefit them specifically, these customers require targeted messaging that addresses their particular friction points.
Understanding and overcoming these barriers is key to moving medium-value customers into the high-value tier.
Low-Value Customers are your opposition voters – they may be firmly committed to competitor brands or simply misaligned with your value proposition.
Just as political campaigns don’t waste resources trying to convert opposition strongholds, smart D2C brands limit their investment in low-value prospects.
These customers tend to be price-driven, promotion-sensitive, and unlikely to develop brand loyalty.
While they shouldn’t be ignored entirely, they should receive only basic brand communication and promotional messaging, and represent a small percentage of your advertising budget, if at all.
This strategic segmentation, combined with demographic microtargeting precision, creates a framework for truly efficient advertising spend.
It ensures your highest-value messaging and offerings reach the audiences most likely to respond, while preventing resource waste on low-probability conversions.
Eliminating advertising waste
Most agencies and in-house advertising teams build waste into their models, accepting that only some ad sets will perform and factoring this inefficiency into their budgets.
Our political campaign heritage has taught us a better way.
By applying rigorous microtargeting principles to D2C advertising, we consistently achieve industry-leading ROAS across sectors.
This approach requires more initial research and planning than traditional methods. But just as our Green Party campaign demonstrated the power of granular demographic analysis and locally tailored messaging, our D2C clients benefit from this political campaign-level precision.
The result? Advertising spend that works harder, creative that resonates more deeply, and conversion rates that consistently outperform industry standards.
The success of D2C advertising lies not in accepting waste as inevitable, but in eliminating it through precision targeting.
Wanamaker’s dilemma need no longer apply – we know exactly where every advertising pound goes, and more importantly, we know how to make it work.